Tuesday, 23 April 2013

I've just read that Bob Leakey, a legendary figure in the exploration of caves in the Yorkshire Dales, died yesterday, aged 98.

A number of interviews with him, made in 1983 and 2010, exist in the BCRA audio archive.

In this one he talks to Geoff Yeadon about diving in Peak Cavern, meeting Eric Hensler exiting from one of the eponymous crawls he pushed in Gaping Gill, just after had discovered it, and a run-in with Eli Simpson over cutting a length of BSA rope whilst exploring some avens beyond Sand Caverns also in GG.

This rather fine old survey * of Gaping Gill may be of help in locating some of the places mentioned in the interview.